


Blood in the snow

by I_wish_for_love



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Depression, Enderman Hybrid Niki | Nihachu, Found Family, Gen, How Do I Tag, Niki | Nihachu and Ranboo are Siblings, No Smut, Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Snow, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, Violent Thoughts, Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29479059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_wish_for_love/pseuds/I_wish_for_love
Summary: Ranboo trudged through the snow as the sunset over the winter tundra. He’d woken up in the crater of L’Manberg, with nothing but his 3 memory books and a winter cloak. He breathed heavily as he walked over to the community portal, hiding from everyone else who walked down the path.Now, the hybrid walked through the snow, which was thankfully only ankle-high, he tried to focus on getting back to his shack, ignoring all sounds around him. Until one snapped him out of his trance.A scream. One that sounds like a very familiar voice, one that had shown him kindness. It was Philza.Ranboo dropped his books in the snow and ran into the forest, weaving in between the trees as the sun slowly set. But he arrived on a horrific scene.ORRanboo repays Philza and Techno for their kindness
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Niki | Nihachu, Cara | CaptainPuffy & Ranboo, Jschlatt & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Karl Jacobs & Ranboo, Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 70
Kudos: 732





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I woke up and chose violence
> 
> Note!  
> There will be depictions of gore and also perhaps some things that could be trigger warnings in later chapters (If there are any), so each time there is a trigger warning, it will look like this  
> TW: Gore depictions  
> llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll  
> Over
> 
> Enjoy!

Ranboo didn’t hate snow. Sure, it hurt when it melted, but it didn’t hurt as much as normal water.

So, when he’d woken up in the L’Manberg crater without amour, he didn’t hate walking through the snow. It’d be weird, waking up there. He had nothing but his winter cloak (A villager had given it to him out of a trade) and his three memory books. Well, the three part freaked him out.

One of them had been burned, so why was it back, replicated almost perfectly? He’d pushed that thought out of his mind, for now, he had to get back home. He was walking next to a spruce forest, spotting the beam of a beacon in the distance.

He was about to speed up his pace when he heard a.. scream? It sounded distressed and almost similar. Still, Ranboo dropped his books and immediately ran towards the scream, ignoring the fact that he was probably just as helpless against whatever this person was fighting, but he still ran, weaving in between trees. It was a quick run, as he arrived on a clearing in the forest.

He stopped behind a tree and peeked around at the sight, and nearly screamed himself.

There laid Philza, covered in blood. His own blood. His clothes had been ripped by axe slashes and his hat missing, and Ranboo spotted two small dolls lying not far apart from each other. Totems of Undying. Phil had used 2 to stay alive against whatever he was fighting.

Ranboo looked up to see what was beating Phil, and was horrified. Nearly unrecognizable under all the blood, but as soon as the figure spoke, he knew who it was.

It was Technoblade.

Technoblade who had cared for both him and Phil. Technoblade who had sworn on his life that he’d never do anything to harm Philza, was standing over the barely conscious body of Philza, drenched in blood that had clearly come from the wounds on Phil.

Ranboo couldn’t hear what Techno was saying, something about the voices and how they demanded something, but when he saw Techno raise up the axe to bring down onto Philza, to kill him, his instincts reacted, and he ran forward. Techno swung down with all his might.

_**Ranboo was slain by Technoblade** _

Phil blinked his eyes, expecting to see his son, to see Schlatt, to see the afterlife, but instead saw something even more sickening.

**TW: Gore depictions**

Ranboo’s body, laying on its side, with his head right on Phil’s chest. With an axe halfway into his skull. Lodged in with the force of a warrior. Purple blood spilling out, onto Philza’s now torn cloak.

**Over**

Instead of screaming in pain or fear, this time he screamed in horror. He slapped his hand over his mouth, choking a sob from coming out, as the body of the boy who’d shown him and Techno nothing but kindness, dissolved into gold particles and were whisked away to respawn somewhere.

Phil looked up to stare at the pink-haired man, who stood with the same horrified expression as Phil, axe and blood lust long forgotten, replaced with pure and unfiltered horror as he stared at the spot where the enderman hybrid had been lying.

The two men made eye contact, both covered in one's blood, each one, for the first time in a long time having tears run down their faces, and they both just stared. Stared at the other one. Techno broke first, dropping to his knees and screamed, louder than Philza had, not just in horror, but in pain as well. Pain of what he’d just done to Ranboo. To the kid. To his neighbor. To his friend.

Phil shuffled towards Techno, not knowing what to do, but knowing to help the other man, who now looks like he was a little boy again, helpless and lost in the world. He wrapped his arms and wrecked wings around the shaking man as he squeezed as hard as he could while still being weak.

Both men thought the same childish thought. Think that it was a dream, that they'd wake up and look outside to see the teen outside, petting the dogs. But they both knew as Phil slumped, passed out on Techno's shoulder, as Techno placed the two used totems into his pocket, strapped the axe onto his side, and picked up Philza, as Techno began the walk back home, that it was no dream.

_It was all real._


	2. The Iron Blade and Forgiveness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for all the kudos and comments on the last chapter! c:  
> This chapter will contain suicidal thoughts and acts  
> And the beginning is kinda rocky, but bear with it, it gets better, I promise

If I told you that the server cried, I would have lied. The server wept.

Why?

Well, because right after the death message, a new one came up

**_Ranboo’s lives left: 2̵̛̬̟̖̼̑̈́̃̆̿͝ͅ9̵̢̛̖͓̤̺̈́̂̽̂͊̄̒̚͠0̷̢̡͖̗̗̜͍͔̊͌̋͋͛̋̎̐̓̊͜1̷̨̤͚͖̟̣̼̒̆̓̀̇̒̋̎͐͆͜ͅ3̸̨̺̣̫̠͙̩̥̻̗̮͇͓͋͆͜ͅ6̷̨̨͖͓̞̲̞͉̝̙̩̬̅7̷͓͒͛͗̈́̈́̊͆͑̆̍͝2̶̨̗͔͔̈́̔͌̎͊̑1̶͙̋͊̈́̊̅͠͝͝͝0̷̨̪̞̰͓͚̙̖̫͌͛̋̂͂͑̋̾̚͜͜͠ 1_ **

  
  


Niki saw the message first. She’d been relaying over past messages, so when the announcement came up, she had the first reaction, and she stared. She stared at the white message in chat as the communicator buzzed with messages from the other members. Then she screamed. She screamed so loud, so hard, so full of sorrow, Puffy rushed to her side, finding Niki in shambles, sobbing her heart out, cradling her own limbs as Puffy wrapped her arms around her, slowly easing the communicator out of her hands so she could see what the havoc was about and cried alongside her wife and she saw. Niki couldn’t help but break down. Ranboo was like a brother to her, and the last thing she’d done to him was yell at him. Now he’s on the verge of death, 1 life left and no one knows what he’ll remember about his life before death. What if he forgets her?

The next to see the messages were Tommy and Tubbo, who were sitting around a campfire, chatting away happily (Much to Jack’s displeasure) as if they were actually teenagers, not minors thrown into war. Then the message rang out into the server, and the cheer was gone. If you had asked the boys, they would have said they may have cried a bit, but that would have been an understatement. They couldn’t stop the tears from coming out, not even Tommy, who’d had to keep in the tears for so long, could stop. Sam had rushed over to the forest where the boys were and helped them, getting them onto their feet and leading them to the Innit Hotel, where there was a small campsite set up for Sam’s use, but instead, he had them sit down. Both boys were weighed down in guilt, simply thinking why they couldn’t have protected their friend against the wrath of Technoblade.

Fundy tried not to feel that bad, as he hadn’t seen the message until morning, and the shock of the moment had passed. He had almost expected it, Technoblade had always been vicious to everyone except for Philza, so it was about time that Ranboo got what was coming for him, Fundy tried to reassure himself while silent tears ran down his face, the crushing pain of the loss of one of his friend’s lives weighing down on his soul.

Only one other person wept that night, and his name was Dream. Dream didn’t know why he had cried when the death message came through the small speaker installed on the side of his cell, but he did. When Ranboo had been in his conscious state, he’d been the enemy, but when he was working with Dream, he’d been nice. He got everything he’d asked for and talked to Dream about their lives. Dream had even told the hybrid some of his secrets, knowing he wouldn’t remember when he woke up. Ranboo had been a good listener, and even if he was an enemy, even Dream wasn’t cruel enough to curse the poor boy with glitched text, knowing how painful it is.

The rest of the server only cried, none of the others having that strong of a bond with Ranboo, but knowing how kind and gentle his soul was. Although many didn’t know what the glitched text meant, those who did muttered a small prayer that Ranboo would be okay and went back to what they had been doing. But, even those who knew what the glitched text meant couldn’t help but wonder, what had happened to his first life? Some thought Techno had taken away both, some thought that he had just spawned with two, but they were all wrong. The truth was much more horrifying.

Then, in the warm cabin that belonged to Technoblade and Philza, a week after his death, A small black and white hybrid jerked awake, flailing around and grabbing his limbs to make sure they were all there.

* * *

Ranboo placed his hands onto his face, making sure it was all intact, but stopped running them over his face when he felt a small indent next to his right eye. He quickly grabbed the small hand mirror on the bedside table and raised the reflective surface up to eye level. On the black side of his face, there was a scar. A white scar, one that matched the color of his other side, and ran right through his eye. His beautiful emerald green eye now had a purple line across it, running even through the whites of his eye. He followed the scar all the way along his head until it stopped, right before the cross over to white. So, half of his face had a scar running across it, from the bridge of his nose to the back of his head. He put the mirror back down and covered his face with his hands, memories slowly coming back to him.

“Ranboo?” A worry-stricken voice pierced his thoughts. Ranboo looked up to see a bandaged blond man standing in the door frame, a look of both concern and happiness on his face. What was this man's name again? Philza something.

“Ranboo, mate, we were so worried,” Philza exclaimed, walking forward and sitting down in the chair next to the bed, “You’ve been out for a week.”

“Y-your Philza, right?” Ranboo whispers, worried to use his voice. Philza nodded.

The small patter of feet alerted Ranboo of another presence. Who else lived here? Someone with a T in their name, right?

A pink-haired man stepped into the room with his head angled in a way that Ranboo can’t see his face. What was his name? Techno? Technoblade, that’s it!

Technoblade hurt us.

T̵̛̟͖͚̎̇̄̃̾͑̒̌͆ē̵̦͙̠c̸̢̖̼̖̖̤̹͓̆̿͛h̸̡̦͓̩͈̓̓͛̈́̔͐͗͐̎͊͜n̶̲͙͖̻̝̝̈́̆̍͛̕͘͝ơ̸͈̫̑̓͐͌̃͗b̸̙͇̌́̽̈̐̽͑̽̀̉̍̔̋̕l̵̻͙̘͙̬̺͍̠̙̻̽͘̚a̵͉̗̎̒̆̆͌̒͝d̷̞͖̗ȅ̶͚͖̞̟͚̣͉͉̻̤̩̩͕̟̃̇̑͘͘̚̕͘͘ͅ ̴̢̼̓͛͑ḩ̵͚͔̯͉̾̒̃ư̶̞̫͐̉͒͑̚̕͜r̴̻̈̓̏̾́͐̋̐͐͐͝ͅţ̵̘̯̻͉̹̣̝͉͉̪̰̯̔̈́͝ ̸̧̤͓̃̉̃̋̒̃͛͆ư̸̳̱̫̳̯̱̤̻͉͇̔̎̓͛̆́̆̔̉̈́͘š̴͉̠̟͖̼͉̼͇͑̓̄̉̍̋̋́̍͘ͅ

He hurt us.

**He** **_killed_ ** **us.**

Techno lifted his head up so Ranboo could get a good look at the tired man's face. Almost instantly, Ranboo let out an enderman screech. One that emanated fear. He pushed his back into the wall behind him, trying to get as far away from Techno as quickly as he can, lifting up his arms to protect his head and face, turning his head to the side.

Techno stiffened at the sight, and, after staring for a couple seconds at the trembling form of the hybrid, left the room and headed downstairs. He walked straight over to the chest with all of his weapons in it. He took out an iron sword. He hadn’t touched netherite since he’d killed Ranboo, he couldn’t bring himself to touch it. He heard the footsteps of Phil as he came down from Ranboo’s room.

“Tech?” Phil quietly asks, worried for Techno’s health after seeing Ranboo like that. Technoblade handed Philza the sword.

**TW: Suicidal thoughts**

“Kill me,” Techno whispered.

“What?” Philza asked, wondering if he had heard Techno correctly.

“Kill me Phil!” Technoblade roared, tears welling up in his eyes, “KILL ME! You saw him, how scared he was! I can’t live with myself, seeing that face. Maybe I’ll be able to respawn somewhere else, away from you two, so I can’t hurt you two anymore. So, please, kill me.”

Phil watched and listened in horror at seeing this man who he’d taught and raised since he’d been 12. 

He shook his head, “No way, I’m not making that mistake again. I made that mistake with my son, and I won’t do that to you,” Phil moved forward and placed his hand on Techno’s cheek.

Instead of allowing him to keep it there, Techno instead pulled the sword out of Phil’s hand and back up. He drew the sword up to his neck and smiled.

He closed his eyes and listened to the voices one last time. Chat were split half and half, some urging him to do it, the rest telling him to stop.

**Over**

He was ready to run it across his neck when Ranboo yelled out, “STOP!”

Techno opened his eyes. Ranboo was standing on the stairs, a look of worry on his face.

“Drop the sword,” he said with a firm voice. Techno let the sword fall to the ground with a clatter and collapsed onto the couch, covering his face in his hands. He sat for a few moments until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Techno looked over to see Ranboo’s hand on his shoulder. He was shaking a bit, but it didn’t seem to matter to Ranboo.

“Listen,” Ranboo stuttered, “I know that you killed me, but, I know that we were friends before that. S-so, I’m willing to restart,” Ranboo gave a small smile, hoping that it was reassuring.

Techno took a couple seconds to process these words, then gave the same small smile back. He hesitantly raised his hand up to hover over Ranboo’s, and with a small nod, he took Ranboo’s hand off his shoulders and held it in his own, silent tears running down his face.

“That’s all I ask for,” Techno whispered

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I've got lots of plans for the next chapters, but I can't tell if I want to do some angst and fluff bonding between Techno and Ranboo or show y'all what happened during the respawn and what it means if you get glitched text. They'll both be published and I leaning more towards the fluff + angst first, but you guys tell me what you want! c:


	3. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one HURT man.  
> Also, all throughout this chapter will be mentions of child abuse and neglect, so watch out for that!  
> Also, thank you for all the kudos and nice comments!  
> Also, enjoy!

Rules

  1. No crying
  2. Finish all work before mother gets home
  3. Never leave home without permission
  4. Leave father alone unless very important
  5. Never ask for help with anything
  6. Help mother with everything
  7. If your sister wants something, give it to her
  8. Never go into fathers workplace
  9. If father brings home a lady who isn’t mother, DO NOT TELL
  10. Never look weak
  11. Never tell anyone about home life
  12. ~~Never forget~~ **FORGET**



Break any rules, father will hurt you and mother will yell at you. I know you don’t like yelling, so try to follow the rules. I’ll come for you soon. - Auntie 

Techno scanned over the paper once more, horror and anger seeping into his veins. The page had flown out of Ranboo’s second memory book that he’d picked up while he was heading back to the cabin on that cursed night. He was looking through them, trying to figure out what had led to Ranboo ending up in the crater. Ranboo had told him everything he had remembered of that day, and when Ranboo couldn’t tell him how he’d gotten there, Techno resorted to doing his own investigation. It felt wrong, but he needed to do it, to help Ranboo, and to try and rebuild his friendship with him. Seeing this page, this page of terrible rules, and wanted blood. Wanted to spill the blood of Ranboo’s family. 

But first, Techno had to talk to Ranboo about it. But not yet. Ranboo had only just gotten comfortable with sitting next to Techno without Phil in the room. Maybe in a week or so.

“What are you looking at?” Techno looked up to see Philza standing in front of him.

“Is Ranboo here?” Techno looked around.

Phil looked confused, “No, he’s with the dogs, why?”

Techno handed over the paper. Phil scanned it over, again and again, his face changing from shock to fury.

“What the fuck?” Philza muttered, looking up from the page, “Where did you find this?”

“It fell out of one of his memory books. I found some other horrific shit in there, but this is our biggest hint to his past,” Techno grunted, passing the second book over to Phil, who instead just placed it onto the coffee table and sighed.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Philza broke it, with the one smallest whispers that Phil had ever muttered out, but one that could shatter everything that Techno had tried to rebuild.

“We need to ask him about it.”

* * *

Ranboo returned to the cabin at sunset, a week after the two had found the note (Unknown to Ranboo). He entered the house to see Technoblade sitting on the couch, head in his hands.

“Are you okay Techno?” Ranboo asked, looking over at the man. When he raised his head up, Ranboo flinched slightly, but he recovered quickly.

“Sit down kid,” Techno pointed to an armchair across from himself. Instead, Ranboo took a deep breath and sat down next to Technoblade on the couch. The piglin hybrid looked up in surprise, before giving a weak smile to the enderman hybrid, who returned it.

Then Techno sighed, “Listen, we need to talk.”

Ranboo looked up, quickly turning anxious, “D-did I do something wrong?” He stuttered.

“No, no, no. Don’t worry,” Techno quickly responded, “It’s something else. I was going through your books a week ago, and this fell out,” He slid the rule page over to Ranboo, who sucked in a breath as soon as he saw it.

“Can you tell me what it is?”

Ranboo grabbed his arms, digging his claws into them, breathing shallow and quick. Techno quickly grasped his arms and got them to loosen enough for him to move them off his arms and into his own hands, letting Ranboo squeeze the life out of them.

“Breath kid,” Techno whispered, “Breath.”

Rambo breathed in and out a couple times, before looking back down at the page. 

“I-it’s a list of rules my aunt gave to me when I was young,” Ranboo whispered, staring at the page with fear in his breath, “My p-parents. T-they weren’t the best people, that’s all I remember. I know they left scars, but some of those could have been from my other passings.”

Techno just stared.

“Your other what?” Techno whispered, vision changing slightly red.

“Passings,” he muttered, “I only remember three of them.”

“What were they?” Techno could see the tears building in Ranboo’s eyes, so he let go of one of Ranboo’s hands, grabbed a cloth from the table, and passed it to Ranboo, who gripped onto it.

“The first was drowning, I think,” He muttered, reaching to his back and brushing over his left shoulder, “That’s where this burn is from. The next was from hunters, they shot me,” He tapped his heart, where the men assumed there was a scar, “Then it was..”

Techno cringed, “Me.”

Ranboo nodded, beginning to breathe heavily again, “E-excuse me. I’m just gonna go to the washroom.”

“Okay,” Techno muttered, letting go of Ranboo’s hands. Ranboo got up and walked swiftly over to the washroom upstairs, closing the door as softly as he could behind him.

He slid down the door and squeezed the page in his hand, letting out short, deep breaths. He’d grabbed it while heading to the washroom by accident. He felt like a little boy again, hiding in the washroom when he hadn’t finished all his chores. She always found him, and dragged him over to his father, yelling how the “monster” had been bad again. Then…

**TW: Self Harm**

Flashes of whippings, smashed water bottles, matched dropped onto hands, scalding hot metal on his hands, broken glass, and other forms of punishment hit his senses, making tears leak out of his eyes, burning against his skin. He quickly got up and stood at the sink, staring at himself in the mirror. Why did the pain, the burning, feel… good? He was still trembling. Why? It looked weak and stupid.

“Rule 10,” Ranboo muttered, looking down at his hands, “Never look weak. Rule 1, no crying,” Ranboo sucking in a few breaths until the tears stopped coming, and reached towards the tap handle, “I have to punish myself, I broke the rules,” He turned the tap on, and cold water began to pour out of the spout, “Then, mother and father will be proud, because I learnt by myself,” He smiled, almost cruelly, and stuck his hands under the gushing water.

The pain was terrible. The burns filled the washroom up with steam and sent a sizzling noise through the air, that both Techno and Phil (Who arrived a minute after Ranboo had left to the washroom) heard, and both rushed towards the bathroom door, and Phil started banging on the door.

“Ranboo?” Phil yelled, banging again, “Ranboo, let us in!”

Ranboo didn’t budge. The burns began to creep up Ranboo’s wrists, as his hands started to bleed, his dark purple blood filling the sink, as the flesh began to melt away. Ranboo cocked his head to the side as the pain became more apparent.

“Step back Phil,” Techno grunted, as he backed up in the hallway. Once Phil had moved out of the way, Techno rammed his entire body into the door, breaking through. Noticing Ranboo, Phil rushed through and pulled his hands out from under the water, which were now showing bone. Techno reacted instantly and rushed out of the bathroom to grab healing potions, but as he left, he heard two phrases.

**Over**

“Ranboo, mate, what are you doing?”

“Making mother and father proud.”

* * *

“Why didn’t you stop?” Philza asked, an hour after the dilemma. He had made Ranboo drink a healing potion, which seemed to make him snap out of his “trance” while Techno made tea with shaking hands to try and help everyone calm down.

“I don’t know,” Ranboo breathed, “It just felt so good at the moment. Something inside of me just told me to do it.”

Phil and Techno looked at each other.

“Like what, voices?” Philza questions, rubbing circles on Ranboo’s back.

“Well, that was kinda proud of it. One part of it was just the paper, it brought up some bad memories. It’s not your fault though,” Ranboo quickly stated, eyeing Techno, “You didn’t know. The other part was… I hear a voice in my head. It tells me things I’ve done that I don’t remember doing. It was urging me on, telling me I was doing good, and if I stayed under long enough, some of my mistakes would be forgiven for. It sounds like Dream.”

Techno sees red, “I kill that bastard.”

“No, no! I don’t think it’s Dream. It’s more like a subconsciousness,” Ranboo stutters out.

Techno walked over and sat down next to Ranboo on his couch. He raised up his hand to the enderman hybrid’s face and placed it on, earning a small flinch from the boy, but it soon passed. Ranboo leaned onto Techno's shoulder and closed his eyes.

“No one notices your tears. No one notices your pain. No one notices your sadness, but they all notice your mistakes, don’t they kid?” Techno whispered to the young boy, who didn’t even react to these words, simply shifted deeper into Techno’s body, “But I promise you, kid, you’ll have a happy ending here.”

Ranboo gave a sad smile and simply quoted before falling asleep on the pink-haired man, “Oh Techno, happy endings aren’t promises. They’re wishes. Wishes that never come true.”

Just with those words, Ranboo had joined the dysfunctional family, where he’d be surrounded with love from the winged man who was the most beautiful yet most terrifying angel of them all, the piglin who craved for blood on the outside but simply wanted love on the inside, and the ghost of a brother no one could see except the enderman boy, who kept the presence a secret and allowed the trench-coat turtlenecked old president watch his family in peace, knowing that life would move on with or without the destroyer of his own creation, and it was up to him to keep up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Here is a fun fact about my writing to lighten the mood: I write a lot of touch stuff because my comfort language is touch, so even though Techno and Ranboo's characters seem to have a more talk based comfort language, I made it so that they're comfort language around people they really trust is touch instead of talk so that I'm more comfortable with writing their fluff together! So yeah :D  
> Have an AMAZING day or night! c:


	4. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback of what happened to Ranboo during the week he was passed out for, respawning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter a lot c:  
> Also A LOT of swearing and inappropriate talk at the end of this chapter  
> Also, warped body parts are also in this chapter  
> Enjoy!

Black. That’s all Ranboo saw. Darkness. It stayed like that for a while. It was almost peaceful, it made him forget the ringing pain in his head from whatever had killed him. 

Then, it began to flash. 

Slow at first, but it became fast very quickly. The colours were bright, neon reds, pinks, purples, greens, blues, yellows and oranges, making Ranboo want to curl up and be stuck in the dark again, even if it was lonely. Even worse, after what seemed like months of the lights flashing, large white bloodshot human eyes appeared around him, staring at him. It was torture. 

Then, one day when he looked up, he wasn’t in the flashing place. He was sitting on grass, surrounded by flowers. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. He smiled, not believing it. Perhaps he’d respawned, away from everyone else.

…

Everyone else?

Ranboo blinked again, and there stood many people, of different shapes and sizes, all oddly familiar and facing away from him. He stood up and walked over to a man who had short blond hair and a white t-shirt with red sleeves on.

“H-hello?” Ranboo muttered to the boy. The boy didn’t respond. Ranboo walked over to the front of the boy to see his face but was horrified by what he saw. 

**TW: Warped body parts**

Where there should have been a face, there was a gaping black hole, as dark as the void he’d been stuck in, yet, even more horrifying, inside the void was a pair of bloodshot human eyes, floating with a white smile under them. Ranboo felt like throwing up.

  
  
  


“Y̶̗͉͖͐͌͂ǫ̷͖̣͆̈̐̀̀͜u̴̢͎͎͚̾́̾̚̚͝͠ ̷̧̡̣͉̙͙̹͓̝͎̺̺̬̙́͛ͅd̸̗̼̞͇͕͛͆̊̈̽̆͑́̽͠͝͝ͅȉ̶̡̢̳̓͑͋̏͗̚̕̕d̵̨̩̗̲̘̮͔̲͓́̈͑͊̋͠ ̴̦̗̖̝̖̗͑͗́̋̽t̵͕͋̀̓́͌̂͐̽̒̉͆̈̍h̴̹͖̞̘̽͗͋͌͝ȋ̸̧̺̻̼̲̰͔̯͇̜̮̍̈́̀̊̌̍̈́̔̌̈́̾̿s̷̢̡̺̥̩̲̪̝̹̳͗͛̃̽͜͠ ̵̖̰̲̯͚̜̈́͛̿́̏t̷̤̼̦̜͚̜̹͎͓͍̯̝͔̄̎̉͐͝ǫ̸̡̛̻̭͉̹̞͎̑͌̈́̌̿͊̆̈́̀͌͑ ̶̢̫̘͉̻͖̟̱̭̜͈̝̞̩̖̏ư̸̧̖͙͈̫͇͊̉́̽̈̎̄͐̔̈́̎͘s̸̱̥̟̘̫̣̙̘̔͋̄͐̃̄͊͘͝”

  
  


“W-what?” Ranboo gasped. Everyone else turned to face Ranboo in a circle around him, all with the same void face as the blood boy. A frazzled white-haired woman with a pirate hat, a man dressed like a king and a pair of sunglasses in his hands, a fox man and many others stood around Ranboo, all chanting the same thing.

  
  
  


“Y̶̗͉͖͐͌͂ǫ̷͖̣͆̈̐̀̀͜u̴̢͎͎͚̾́̾̚̚͝͠ ̷̧̡̣͉̙͙̹͓̝͎̺̺̬̙́͛ͅd̸̗̼̞͇͕͛͆̊̈̽̆͑́̽͠͝͝ͅȉ̶̡̢̳̓͑͋̏͗̚̕̕d̵̨̩̗̲̘̮͔̲͓́̈͑͊̋͠ ̴̦̗̖̝̖̗͑͗́̋̽t̵͕͋̀̓́͌̂͐̽̒̉͆̈̍h̴̹͖̞̘̽͗͋͌͝ȋ̸̧̺̻̼̲̰͔̯͇̜̮̍̈́̀̊̌̍̈́̔̌̈́̾̿s̷̢̡̺̥̩̲̪̝̹̳͗͛̃̽͜͠ ̵̖̰̲̯͚̜̈́͛̿́̏t̷̤̼̦̜͚̜̹͎͓͍̯̝͔̄̎̉͐͝ǫ̸̡̛̻̭͉̹̞͎̑͌̈́̌̿͊̆̈́̀͌͑ ̶̢̫̘͉̻͖̟̱̭̜͈̝̞̩̖̏ư̸̧̖͙͈̫͇͊̉́̽̈̎̄͐̔̈́̎͘s̸̱̥̟̘̫̣̙̘̔͋̄͐̃̄͊͘͝”

  
  


Ranboo was pushed by the blond boy to the ground, as the void faced people continued to chant in their distorted voices, some of them shouting out words like “Traitor” and “Betrayal”. Ranboo couldn’t do anything, so he curled back into the enclosed ball position he’d been sitting in while in the flashing room, head pressed against his thighs.

**End**

It went on forever. So long that their voices became a mindless drone for Ranboo, something of just background noise as he sat on the grass, surrounded by people.

Then the chanting stopped, and Ranboo burned.

He felt the sensation of burning in water, but he stayed completely fine. He felt as he reached the stage where he would stop burning and begin to bleed, but still, nothing happened.

Just the pain.

His bones began to disintegrate. It was torture, screaming out for his aunt, for the names of childhood friends, for the names of more recent friends, for his new family, but no one heard him. Not even himself. 

Then he was somewhere else, gasping for breath while running away from something, still drenched wet, still burning, but he knew he couldn’t stop. 

Arrows flew past him as he weaved through trees and bushes, begging to not get caught. 

An arrow struck him in the back, taking him down. Ranboo groaned and tried to push himself up, but the hunter pushed him down.

“Look at me you fucking disgusting thing,” A low gravely voice spits at the hybrid boy, rolling Ranboo over to his side at forcing the boy to look up with his foot pushing against the enderman’s chin. The man had his long pink hair braided and his face disgusted behind the pig skull that covered his face, dressed in royal clothes despite hunting down the hybrid. He held an axe and raised it up to swing down at Ranboo’s head. 

Ranboo closed his eyes.

“Hello?”

Ranboo opened his eyes to be surrounded by a white room with thousands of strings of different colours. A man with fluffy brown hair, partially hidden by a red hat was crouching in front of him. He wore a yellow turtleneck with a brown trench-coat with a sash and shoulder pads on. He had soft skin and kind eyes.

“Are you alright?” The man had a british accent and a melodious voice.

“F-fine,” Ranboo stuttered, “W-where am I?”

“The afterlife,” The man smiled, “What’s your name kid?”

“R-ranboo, I think.”

The man began to weave through the different strings, walking through them, seemingly looking for a certain one. 

Ranboo realized that a lot of the strings were alone, but some of them were close together, either in pairs or being hugged on both sides by two others, but other than that, none of them matched in colour.

“Hey Schlatt, come here for a sec!” The man called out with a confused voice. He heard a sigh and heavy footsteps as a goat hybrid man dressed in a neat suit with a bright red tie on walked over to the tall man.

“The fuck do you want Wilbur, it’s just a new ki-” The man called Schlatt paused mid-sentence, “The fuck?”

Both men walked over to Ranboo with questioning looks on their faces.

“What’s wrong?” Ranboo asked.

Wilbur sighed, “Kid, you aren’t supposed to be here.”

Ranboo blinked, “What do you mean?”

“Your strings still there,” The goat man snorted.

Wilbur spoke up, “If you were really dead, your string would be gone and…” 

Wilbur sighed and lifted up his shirt to reveal his abdomen and chest, where there was a large sword stab wound, stuffed up to the brim with dark blue string. Schlatt undid a few buttons on the top of his shirt and moved his tie to the side to reveal a small heart thread into his chest with dark red yarn.

“You’d have this shit,” Schlatt chuckled, “But by the looks of it, you’ve still got one string and you’ve just got the usual scar, so answer this question for me,” Schlatt leaned forward, darkening his expression, “What the  _ fuck  _ are you doing here?”

“Schlatt, calm down,” Wilbur scowled, “The kid probably doesn’t know either.”

Schlatt rolled his eyes and backed away, “Can I get and get drunk now? I haven't drunk in an hour.”

“No,” Wilbur scowled at Schlatt, “Last time you got drunk without me paying attention, you almost killed Tubbo by hitting his string. Anyways, how’d you die?”

Ranboo thought for a minute, “Something with my head and a pink-haired guy.”

Ranboo looked up to see Schlatt laughing as Wilbur glared daggers at him. Once Schlatt calmed down, he stared at the tall confused boy.

“What’d you do to piss off the blood god then?” Schlatt chucked.

“Blood god?” Ranboo questioned.

Wilbur sighed with laughter laced into his voice, “It’s a nickname for my ‘brother’, Technoblade.”

“Technoblade?” Ranboo knew that name. It meant someone... protective, “I know him! Him and I were friends! We went on lots of adventures!”

Wilbur and Schlatt exchanged looks and both smirked.

“I like you kid, you seem nice,” Wilbur ruffles Ranboo’s hair, “I mean if Tech trusts you, even if he killed you, you're probably cool. Also, even if Techno hates you, then I can piss him off in the afterlife.”

Ranboo chuckled, “Thank you Wilbur, but I’d prefer to go back to real life if you don’t mind.”

Wilbur looked disappointed, “I understand, it gets pretty boring over here, and Schlatt is annoying as fuck.”

Schlatt punched him in the gut.

“It’s fucking true!” Wilbur wheezed out, “You're always either drunk, high, jacking off, have sex or all at the same FUCKING TIME!” Wilbur paused for a second, “We do have a cool library though.”

Ranboo stared at Wilbur for a second, think of the bizarreness of this situation, before realizing something.

“Wait, aren’t you on the SMP as Ghostbur?” Ranboo questioned.

Wilbur laughed at this statement, “That fucker? Hell no. He’s so fucking weird. I guess he’s like a warped version of me that’s innocent or some shit. He’s really weird though, I’ve met him once and kept giving me blue. He was fine though.”

Both Schlatt and Ranboo chuckled at this. He almost didn’t want to leave. 

**But he had too. For his past life. The life he has to face now.**

“Here, I’ll make a compromise. You let me watch over you and I’ll let you go back to earth,” Wilbur smiled, holding his hand out, "God knows I need some entertainment around here."

“Sure,” Ranboo took his hand and shook.

In a flash of white, Ranboo woke up, grasping at his limbs and panting. 

He looked up to see the tall man standing in the corner, holding a finger over his mouth, whispering to Ranboo, “Tell Phil and Tech I miss them.”

Then the ghost of the man disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed and sorry this chapter didn't come out sooner, I've been a bit busy  
> Have a great day or night! c:


	5. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy  
> I procrastinated on this and it's also grade A trash! So fun!  
> Anyways, manipulation, attempted murder and blood in this chapter  
> So enjoy!

It was delusional for Ranboo to think that the voice was gone.

Well… not delusional. More like childlike hope that it was gone.

Every night, he'd fall asleep, hoping that he'd have a normal dream, and not those cursed ones, the ones he only got while in his sleepwalking state. 

So far, he'd been lucky. 

He’d open his eyes to find himself back in the string room, wandering around to find Wilbur, who’d then show him the ginormous library, where Wilbur would enthrall Ranboo with stories of his past while Schlatt would watch from a distance, feeling almost slightly jealous of the brother relationship that Wilbur and Ranboo had developed. Ranboo would scan through the books, trying to figure out how he’d appeared here, but so far he’d had no success. He mainly found journals holding information about past adventures and future ones as well. He particularly enjoyed “The Lost City of Mizu''. 

He’d often encounter a brown-haired boy wearing a white and grey hoodie, but when he tried to get close, the boy would run off, sometimes leaving behind a new journal. Ranboo could have sworn he knew the boy, but couldn’t remember where from, and Wilbur nor Schlatt were any help. They both just called him “Journal Boy''.

Less often, he’d see a person who looks like a man he knows. He has a green cloak and Ranboo could have sworn his name was something like… Dream? Yes, Dream! But he wasn’t Dream, this wasn’t the same person. Dream usually had a green hoodie on, right? Also, he was pretty sure Dream didn’t have giant wings. Same as Journal Boy, whenever Ranboo tried to approach him, he disappeared.

2 months after his death, Ranboo bid goodnight to Philza (Technoblade was out hunting) and headed upstairs to bed. Ranboo quickly fell onto his bed and passed out nearly immediately, wanting to get back to a good story he had been reading. Tonight, he wasn’t lucky.

He awoke in a dark room with purple goo dripping down from the ceiling. Ranboo blinked a few times and turned his head to the side to see a large white smile with a crown on top on the wall. A man dressed in a green hoodie stood in front of it.

“No, no, no,” Ranboo whispered to himself, beginning to rock back in forth, “Not again.”

“Yes, again,” The masked man said, tilting his head to the side, staring at Ranboo through his smile mask, “Welcome back Ranboo. I’ve missed you.”

Ranboo could slightly hear Phil’s voice calling out to him as the feeling of snow hit his skin. He shivered.

“W-where am I going?” Ranboo whispered, looking up at the man.

Dream walked behind the boy, “To help me, and hurt the ones you love, like you always do!”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You had Tommy’s disc. You blew up the community house.”

Ranboo let out a shaky breath and muttered, “No, no. You’re lying. I didn’t do those things. You’re lying.”

“You can think that all you want Ranboo, but you know I’m telling the truth,” Dream grabbed Ranboo’s chin and pointed his head towards a space across the room. It looked like a doorway made of pure light. Ranboo squinted at it, the light almost blinding.

“Do you know what that is?” Dream whispered, his voice taunting, “It’s your only way to escape. If it closes, you’ll be stuck here forever. Isn’t that fun?” Dream wrapped his other arm around Ranboo’s torso, stopping him from making an escape, “We’ll be together forever, while you cause havoc in the real world!”

Ranboo’s breath quickened as he saw the obsidian being too close, slowly but surely, while Ranboo watched in horror and Dream in amusement.

“Watch as your only hope closes Ranboo, then we can have a wonderful chat, how does that sound, hm? Or should we begin now?” Dream said, happiness growing in his voice, “I say now, how about you?”

Dream used his hand to force Ranboo to nod as the obsidian got a quarter closed, “Perfect!”

“Well, first off, you were right. I’m not you! I’m simply a part of Dream’s soul trapped in your mind! Although it was very fun to hear you panic thinking that I’m you! Although the things I told you were true, you did blow up the community house.”

Ranboo’s eyes were flickering around, trying to find another way out, but there was no other way. The obsidian was halfway closed now. He couldn’t help thinking of what he was doing now. He hoped it wasn’t too bad.

“Oh, and trust me, you are doing something bad, no need to worry! Would you like to see?” Dream sighed, “It’s useless to try and hide your thoughts from me, I’m inside of your mind!”

“Let me see, please,” Ranboo crocked out.

Dream took his hand off Ranboo’s chin and held it out in front of his face, where a small video played. Ranboo wanted to scream.

Phil was tied up and Ranboo was slowly placing TNT around Philza, speaking in Ender whilst he did it. Philza looked like he was fighting to stay conscious, covered in his own dark red blood that was coming out of a wound on the side of his head, making his hair stick to his face as he tried to make Ranboo snap out of it.

Hot tears fell down Ranboo’s face and burned his skin. 

No…

Not Phil…

The door was nearly completely covered at this point. Ranboo couldn’t escape. He could only hope that Technoblade came back from his trip in time to stop Ranboo and kill him.

Ranboo let his head fall onto his chest, but Dream’s hand grabbed his hair and pulled his head upwards to stare at the door.

“Look at your doom in the face Ranboo,” Dream whispered, amusement in his voice, “We’re going to have SO much fun.”

Ranboo closed his eyes as he heard the slam as the obsidian closed. 

**It was over.**

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ “Get the fuck away from him Dream.” _

Ranboo opened his eyes to see Wilbur standing in the doorway, with Journal Boy holding open the obsidian behind him.

Ranboo felt a spark of hope.

Dream titled his head to the side, “And what will you do if I don’t?”

Wilbur smiled cruelly, “Well, you don’t exist if your physical counterpart is killed, correct? And despite it taking quite a bit of energy, I can possess people. I think you know where this is going.”

Ranboo could feel Dream tense and then kicked Ranboo down to the ground.

“This isn’t over pretty boy,” Dream growled.

“Oh, I know,” Wilbur responded, picking Ranboo up and walking out the door.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Ranboo awoke with Technoblade’s arms restraining him from lighting the TNT around Phil.

Ranboo stared at the man sitting in the snow surrounded by TNT. 

He dropped the flint and steel in his hand, and almost fell if not for Techno’s arms holding him.

**Then the world went black.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First person to guess where Ranboo is in the beginning gets a cookie! :D  
> I've got a good idea for the next chapter, so be ready for that and I hope you enjoyed!  
> Have a great day or night!


	6. The Raid: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, short chapter today!  
> I suffer from procrastination, so I'll try to finish part 2 of this sometime this week  
> Enjoy :D

Techno needed to do something to get his mind off of Ranboo. 

So he did what he always did. 

He began to play the violin. 

He didn’t know why it calmed him, it just did.

It was strange that a blood-thirsty piglin enjoyed such a melodious and complicated instrument. But Techno was a master at the instrument, playing it with speed and delicacy as he tried to calm his nerves from what had happened last night. 

Phil hadn’t been hit hard, just enough to be weak enough for Ranboo to get an advantage on him, so the man sat at the table, sipping tea and listening to Technoblade’s violin playing.

* * *

Ranboo awoke to a beautiful melody playing.

He felt the heat and heard the crackle of a fire nearby. 

He didn’t want to open his eyes, so he didn’t. 

Simply tried to remember all of the details of what had happened in his dream. 

Ever since speaking with Wilbur, his memory had gotten better, but sometimes he didn’t remember.

Sometimes he forgot.

  
  
  


~~ Doesn’t everybody want to forget? ~~

  
  
  


But Ranboo cracked open his eyes to see Techno standing by a window and playing a beautiful tune on a violin. 

Ranboo always liked the violin, it paired beautifully with the piano, which he knows how to play, but it’s more like muscle memory rather than just remembering.

Ranboo blinked a few times and pushed himself up so he was sitting up. The two other men noticed immediately, both stopping what they were doing, bringing the music to a halt and causing Philza to stop his mug halfway to his mouth.

Phil immediately placed his mug down and turned to Ranboo, “How are you feeling mate? What do you remember?”

Ranboo rubbed his head, “I’m feeling fine, but I can only remember a bit of what happened,” Techno and Phil exchanged glances, “I remember a dark room, Dream, Wilbur…”

“Wait, wait, Wilbur?” Phil asked while Techno said at the same time, “Wait, Dream?”

“Erm, yeah…” Ranboo stuttered out, both of the men’s eyes on him, both confused and concerned.

But before Ranboo could explain, there was a loud bang on the door. 

Techno looked at Ranboo, then sighed and headed to the door. 

**And he was met with a blade at his neck.**

* * *

“You’re gonna come with me Technoblade,” Tubbo growled.

Techno chuckled, “Pardon? Kid, I’ve already drove off a lot of your friends, so just leave before you get hurt.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not just me,” Tubbo smirked, “Why don’t you step outside?”

Techno sighed and stepped outside, his hand twitching towards the sword resting next to the door. 

_ Holy crap. _

There were a lot of people. 

Niki, Puffy, Tommy, Fundy, Quackity, Karl, Awesamdude, Eret, Jack, Foolish and many of the other SMP members. 

Techno may be strong, but he can’t take all these people in netherite or diamond armour and with full netherite tools while all Technoblade had just a netherite sword by the door, and Phil would also have the same.

“You need to pay, not just for what you did to L'Manburg, but what you did to Ranboo as well,” Quackity shouted at him, voice almost hoarse for some unknown reason.

“So, we give you an offer,” Tubbo shrugged, letting his blade lower from Techno's neck, “Either you give us Ranboo, or…” Tubbo looked Technoblade dead in the eyes, “We’ll kill you.”

* * *

Ranboo felt something tighten on his shoulder at hearing the threat. He glanced over, panic rising in his throat, to see Wilbur’s hand on his shoulder, clutching it in a protective way.

“Techno would never betray you Ranboo, don’t worry,” Wilbur muttered, but still looking nervous.

Techno sighed, not even looking back inside, “Listen, I realize the kid was your friend, but he ran as soon as he woke up.”

Ranboo heard Tubbo let out a loud, disbelieving laugh, “As if we’d believe that! How do we know you're not holding him hostage or some shit like that? If he’s not here, then you wouldn’t mind us coming in and checking the place out, hm?”

At those words, Phil quickly pointed at the ladder heading down to the basement, and Ranboo quickly, yet quietly, ran to it and head down, the voices of Techno and Tubbo becoming muffled, but he heard footsteps as people entered into the house.

Ranboo quickly went down deeper, until he was down with the villagers. He quickly climbed in next to one of them, whispering hurried apologies, which the villager accepted, and then quickly covered his mouth, trying to cover his panicked breathing. What if they took him away from Techno and Phil, and killed the two of them for helping him? It would be all his fault.

That when he heard it…

Footsteps.

Someone was down here.

“Ranboo?” A voice called out, “Ranboo, it’s Karl. I’m not here to hurt you.”

Ranboo didn’t respond, simply pressed himself up against the wall behind him.

Karl sighed, “I’m not gonna take you back to the others. I… I know about Wilbur, and the library.”

Ranboo gulped. How did he know? He hadn’t told anyone.

Wilbur’s voice called out to him, reassurance in his voice, “Ranboo, it’s just him, and he looks like Journal Boy, just with more colour.”

“Is that what you guys call me? Journal Boy,” There was a hint of amusement in Karl’s voice, “Kinda stupid, don’t you think?”

Wilbur gasped, “You can see me?”

“Yes, I can. Ranboo, please come out, the others might come down soon,” Karl whispered.

Ranboo sighed and shuffled his way out to see Journal Boy standing there, but instead of being dressed in just shades, his usual white and grey swirl hoodie was now a colour-block hoodie with the same swirl in the middle, with purple, green and other vibrant colours on. 

Wilbur was floating right next to him, still with a menacing glare at Karl, but it was slightly weaker than usual.

Karl gave a quick smile, but it quickly disappeared when he heard a girl shout out, “Found anything Karl?”

“Nope, nothing!” Karl shouted back at the girl, and he heard a sound of disappointment.

Karl quickly shuffled something off his wrist and jammed it onto Ranboo's own.

“Listen, we don't have much time, but trust me, you can never leave Technoblade or Philza, m'kay?” Karl muttered while fumbling with little things on what Ranboo now released was a watch, “Erm, pass me a button off your shirt, I need something to show them and an excuse of why I was down here for so long.”

Ranboo began to try and pull off a button, before stopping for a moment, “But won't Phil and Techno be blamed if you show this off?”

Karl gave a quick glance up before looking back down at the watch on Ranboo's wrist, “It'll also check out with his story, he can excuse that it fell off while you were running and he had been, I dunno, trying to see if the villagers wanted it?”

Ranboo managed to pull off a button and held it in his hand, waiting for Karl to finish.

Karl finished playing with the watch and grabbed the button out of Ranboo's hand, holding it in his palm.

“Um, Wilbur, could you cause some havoc somewhere, just make sure it's loud and draws people away from the basement,” Karl waves his hand absent mindlessly while studying the button.

Wilbur scoffed at how rude Karl was being, but he could tell he was stressing over this, so he grudgingly floated upstairs, and in a few seconds, the two boys heard looks of clatter upstairs, and rushing footsteps, causing Ranboo to give a small jump.

“This will do,” Karl states, clutching his fist around the button and reaching up, grabbing a few strands of Ranboo's hair and pulling them off, causing Ranboo to wince. Karl quickly studied the ground, before plucking up a blonde strand of hair and a long pink one as well, then stuffed it into a small crevice in the watch.

“I need some of your guy's DNA for it to work,” Karl explained, turning around and lifting up some of his hair on the back of his head to show a small bald spot that was usually covered by the rest of his fluffy hair.

“For what work?” Ranboo questioned, struggling to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

“Well, it’s gonna be kinda weird, but it’ll both hide you from everyone, and it’ll show you something,” Karl muttered, “You’re gonna get kinda dizzy, but it’ll be okay. Good luck Ranboo.”

Karl pressed a small button on the watch and the hands began to spin wildly, before stopping at 8:29.

Ranboo blinked, and there was a large white flash, blinding him.

He blinked a few times to squint around at a bunch of purple, yellow and green swirls. It was disorienting, seeing the colours swirl together, then separate, then repeat.

It was almost peaceful in a way…

Then, he was thrown back into a world full of colour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> This was a fun chapter, but procrastination is eating away at my soul, so we love that for me! :D  
> Have a great day or night! :D


	7. The Raid: Pat 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait... Ranboo and Niki are canon siblings...  
> ...  
> *Silently writes in sibling angst*

Ranboo blinks out of the shock to see himself in a luxurious room.

I had beautiful wooden floors and dark red walls. A large chandelier hung off the ceiling and there were many counters near the walls, with vases and jewelry.

He turned to the wall right behind him to see a large painting, one that takes up the wall from top to bottom and takes up the whole middle section. It was a beautiful painting of an adult blond long-haired man, with a serene look on his face.

He looked strangely familiar, but before Ranboo could name the man, he heard a slam behind him.

Ranboo turned around to see a pink-haired man dressed in noble clothing with a mask around their eyes.

“I-I’m so sorry sir!” Ranboo yelped out, “I don’t know how I got here! I’ll leave!”

The man ignored him, simply walking right past him and stood in front of the painting, staring right at the man’s face.

Ranboo stepped closer. Perhaps the man was blind and couldn’t hear well, “Sir? I’m sorry, I’ll go now.”

The man still ignored him.

Instead, he fell onto his knees, still staring at the painting still. He reached up and took the mask off, not looking back at Ranboo.

“Sir?” A voice called out from behind Ranboo. Ranboo turned around to see a boy who looked the same age and height as him, peaking into the room.

The three men stood in silence for a bit before the pink-haired man broke it, speaking in a rough and monotoned deep voice, so it was almost impossible for Ranboo to hear the undertone sadness in his voice.

“Do you think he’d forgive me, butler?”

The butler stood at the door, apparently thinking for a moment, before stepping into the room and standing right by Ranboo, who was still weirded out about how they were ignoring him.

“I don’t think so Master Billiam,” The butler spoke, also removing his black and gold mask from his face, “We had to feed the egg, sir. He told us to do it.”

“Come here butler,” Billiam barked out, causing the butler to flinch slightly, then walk over to Billiam’s side.

“Yes sir?”

“Why would he tell us to kill him instead of you? You’re just a worthless butler, so why sacrifice his own life?”

The butler thought for a second, before sighing, “I think it’s perhaps because he felt guilty for killing my brother sir.”

Billiam looked at the butler, not meeting his eyes but instead looking at the sword that Ranboo just realized the butler was holding.

“Right, him..” Billiam grimaced, “Say butler, I never did get your name.”

“I don’t have one sir,” The butler’s eyes strayed away from the sight of his employer, who was now getting up on his feet, “I never met my parents, and if I did, I don’t remember them.”

Sir Billiam sighed and placed his hand onto the shoulder of the taller man. For a moment, Ranboo could have sworn that the image flickered, and the people were replaced.

Billiam was switched with Technoblade, and the butler was replaced by himself. In the painting, the long-haired man was replaced by Philza, with the same look on his face, but looked slightly younger. Then they switched back to normal.

“Go get changed butler,” Billiam said, looking into the boy’s eyes, “I think it’s time for you to meet your family. I’ll expect you back in a week.”

The boy’s eyes lit up, before he quickly regained his composure, nodding quickly, “Yes sir. Thank you, sir!”

The butler quickly rushed out of the room, not after bowing down at the man.

Billiam gave a small smile, then looked back at the painting, “Did I do well father? I’ve wronged him and his family quite a bit. Does this pay it back?”

Before Ranboo could see what would happen next, he was washed back into the coloured swirls, dizzying him as he looked into the bright colours.

Then he was thrown back into the real world. He was surrounded by tall spruce trees and snow, and could also vaguely hear shouting in the distance.

Once he recovered from the trip, he began to look around, trying to pinpoint exactly where he was.

He turned around to see a small clearing behind himself. In the middle of the field was a large patch of dark purple blood, staining the ground and snow that he wouldn’t have been able to see if they had gotten snow, but the most they had gotten over the past month was light snow.

So he was at his death place...

_ Good to know. _

Ranboo quickly turned away from the clearing and began to head back, following his muscle memory to get back.

As Ranboo head back to the house, he wondered how long he’d been gone. 

Hopefully long enough for the intruders to leave, but not long enough for Techno and Phil to worry.

**He was wrong.**

As he approached the cabin, he saw a sort of standoff happening, between Techno and Phil against about 20 people.

Ranboo decided it would be best for him to stay back and observe the scene, knowing he’d most likely be in danger if he were to get involved.

So he crept forwards until he could fully hear what they were saying.

“I don’t know what you want from us!” Philza shouted back at whatever the boy in front of the crowd had said, “We don’t know nor care where he is!”

“Because Techno both killed him and you two both blew up L’Manburg!” A man near the front yelled. He wore a blue beanie and Ranboo knew him from somewhere, he knew almost everyone in the crowd from somewhere, but he couldn’t pinpoint his name.

A short brown-haired boy seemed to sigh before saying, “Look, we all know that you have some idea of where Ranboo is, so just tell us and perhaps we won’t execute Phil, only imprison him Technoblade.”

Wait, _**execute?**_ These people were going to kill Phil just to find him?

The rational part of himself told him to stay hidden, but a different, more commanding part, the same part that told him to sacrifice himself for Phil, told him to intervene.

So he did.

“Hey!” Ranboo yelled out, drawing everyone's attention to him.

He surveyed the looks on everyone’s faces. Phil and Techno were looking at him confused, shocked, and frightened at the same time, while Karl was simply frightened. Most everyone else in the crowd was looking either relieved, confused, or thankful. 

Then his eyes landed on the sight of a girl whose face he could never forget.

His sister, Niki.

Ranboo slowly walked down the hill, eyes still locked on Niki.

“You won’t go near them,” He growled out.

The brown-haired boy looked shocked for a moment, before sputtering out, “B-but, he killed you! They blew up L’Manburg! Why would you want to be with them? Why not be with your friends?”

Ranboo turned towards the brown-haired boy, cocking his head to the side, “Then why would it take you all so long to come? I know at least a few of you have come to try, but most of you, I’ve only seen just now!”

“B-but, Ranboo!” Niki said, voice trembling with heartbreak, “We were going up against Technoblade! We had to prepare!”

Ranboo scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Four of us managed to nearly execute him by threatening his horse Niki! I don’t know why you all came now, but you can just leave, thank you very much! I don’t even remember most of you or our good memories if that’s what you were hoping for!”

“But Ranboo! They killed you! Come home, we’re your family, not them! Remember, I’m Tubbo, the president!” The brown-haired boy said, taking a step forward.

“They aren’t my family!” Ranboo shouted, Waving his hand at the rest of the crowd, “Mutals, maybe friends, but not family! People who are family to me, I remember once I hear their name, okay! I remember things about you, and Niki and Techno and Phil and some fox guy, but **NO ONE** else!”

“Do you mean me?” A man with orange hair stepped forward, with a hopeful look on his face.

“What’s your name then _sir?_ ”

“Fundy, remember?”

Ranboo thought for a moment. Fundy…

Fundy! 

He had done many good things with him.

Mining, started a business, cried because of him.

Wait, crying isn’t good. They’d fought last time they’d spoken.

“Oh, I remember you Fundy,” Ranboo smiled, looking at the relieved face of the fox hybrid, “We had very fun times didn’t we? I remember experiencing happiness with you… and sadness. Anger. Hurt. You betrayed me, didn’t you?”

The face of the man fell into sadness, and he silently backed up. From behind him, the man with a beanie on emerged.

“You remember me, right?” The man asked, a nearly sad tone in his voice, “I’m Quackity.”

Quackity? 

Quackity was a friend, right? 

I don’t know…

Ranboo sighed, “I only know that you were in a high place of power in L’Manburg and have something to do with Schlatt, Karl and some guy named Sapnap.”

Quackity fell back with a crestfallen look.

Karl walked forward and placed both his hands on Ranboo’s hand, making Ranboo flinch slightly, “Do you remember Karl?”

Ranboo looked at Karl, who silently mouthed “no”.

“I don’t, sorry,” Ranboo admitted as he felt weight shift off of his wrist as Karl backed up. He gazed down to see the watch missing and now on Karl’s wrist once he looked at the man.

Niki rushed forward and grabbed Ranboo’s arm, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember them, you remember me, your sister! Y-you can come back and live with me! We can be a proper family again!”

Ranboo pulled his arm out of her grasp and looked her straight in the eyes. She was the only one he could hold eye contact with.

“Listen, Niki, I know you want to be a family again, be siblings, but I can’t. I know that you don’t know how our parents treated me, but when I tell you it was different, it was VERY different. No matter what, I don’t think we could ever truly be family again,” Ranboo looked over his shoulder back at Philza and Techno, who were still looking ready to step up protect Ranboo, but still allowed him to do what he needed to do, “These people, they get me. They accept you because you look human, you act human. I’m the opposite, a memory loss freak who’s more enderman than human. They’re hybrids as well and know how I suffer. I’m sorry Niki. I’m sorry everyone, but I can’t go back and stay there. I can visit and stuff, but I can’t stay.”

Niki looked into her younger brother’s eyes. She always wanted what was best for him, even if that meant her having to leave him.

Niki sighed and, much to Ranboo’s surprise, wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling him into a hug, tears welling up in her eyes.

“You better write ‘Visit Niki’ In your memory book,” She muttered into his button-up shirt.

Ranboo gave a quiet chuckle as she pulled away with a small smile on her face as she reached up to wipe away her tears.

“See you around little bro.”

“Bye big sis.”

* * *

Techno watched as Ranboo turned away from his sister and walked towards them with a small smile on his face as most of the group walked away, leaving behind a few other people who began yelling at each other for a bit, until seeing Techno’s death stare as Phil and Ranboo chatted, Phil gushing about how cool Ranboo was.

“You look cold kid,” Techno noted, looking at the shivering enderman hybrid, “Let's get inside and get you something to eat.”

As the three men head into the house, Techno looked at the retreating backs of the stragglers, and couldn’t help but think about how BadBoyHalo, Antfrost, and Punz were glaring daggers Ranboo and Techno, and Techno suspected it had nothing to do with why the others were there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Niki and Ranboo angsttttttttttttttttttttt!  
> Also, I've made it canon the Ranbutler and the butler that Dream was supposed to play brothers, and you can't change that  
> Have an amazing day or night!


	8. Mansion Raid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just a little fluff and angst filler until the next chapter.
> 
> Warning! There will be mentioned blood, vomiting, self-harm, loss of teeth, and attempted suicide in the chapter!

“Oi, Ranboo,” Phil said, turning his head in Ranboo’s direction, “Would you be down for a mansion raid tomorrow?”

Ranboo raised his head from the book he was reading, then nodded, quickly turning back to the book.

Phil smiled. Ever science Technoblade had shown Ranboo his collection of books, Ranboo set himself up to the task of reading them all (Something very challenging due to the number of books there were, but Ranboo was making steady progress). 

Then, Philza got a brilliant idea due to the buzz of his communicator.

**{Nihachu whispers to you} Hey Phil, hows Ranboo?**

**{You whisper to Nihachu} Good, but he misses you**

**{You whisper to Nihachu} Would u like to join us for a mansion raid tmrrw?**

**{Nihachu whispers to you} Id love too!**

**{You whisper to Nihachu} Great! Meet us by our portal. You know where it is**

“Hey, Phil, who are you chatting with?” Techno calls over from his spot on the couch, “You’ve got the sort of grin that you usually only have when you're planning something.”

“I do not!” Philza retorts back.

“You do,” Ranboo responds.

Philza makes a fake sound of annoyance, causing Ranboo to giggle, before yawning.

“So, what were you doing?” Techno asked, chuckling at Phil as well.

Philza rolled his eyes, “I was talking with Niki. She’s going to be joining us tomorrow.”

Ranboo looked up with excitement in his eyes and a large smile on his face, “Really?”

Philza chuckled at the childlike excitement in Ranboo’s eyes, “Yep.”

Ranboo smiles even larger and collapses on the couch. Techno sighed and smiled while picking up Ranboo’s book off the couch and placed both his own and Ranboo’s onto the table and leaned back on the couch as well, watching Ranboo’s little happy party.

Once Ranboo calmed down, Techno reached over and gently pulled Ranboo over until he was almost right next to him, about 7 centimeters away. Ranboo leaned onto Technoblade’s shoulder as his eyes flickered closed.

* * *

“Eyup Ranboo!” Wilbur called out, cigarette in one hand, book in the other.

Ranboo walked over to Wilbur, a smile on his face, “Hey Wilbur, how are you?”

“Good, good, how are you?” Wilbur said, raising the cigarette up to his mouth.

“I’m good! I’m going on an adventure with Phil, Techno, and Niki tomorrow!” Ranboo said, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet out of excitement.

Wilbur blinked in shock at the mention of Niki, lowering down the cigarette and exhaling a puff of smoke, “Niki…?”

“Mhm!”

Wilbur gulped and dropped his cigar, stomping on it, “Is it okay if I come with you guys tomorrow, y’know, watch you and make myself visible to you?”

Ranboo cocks his head to the side. Why does Wilbur look... kind of sad?

“Um, sure, of course!” Ranboo stuttered out.

Wilbur chuckled and ruffled Ranboo’s hair, making the tall boy groan.

“Thanks, Ranboo,” Wilbur says, showing off a charming smile.

* * *

“Wake up Ranboo,” Philza shakes Ranboo gently, waking him up from his spot on the couch, “We’re leaving in a few hours.”

Ranboo rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. 

He’d been reading about a little orphan boy named Robin and had luckily managed to remember his page before waking up.

“Morning Phil,” Ranboo smiles, stretching, “Where’s Techno?”

“He went to check on the turtles I believe,” Philza responds, “I’ll meet you at the portal, okay mate?”

“Okay!” Ranboo said while heading out the door and back to his little house by the mountain.

Ranboo quickly rushed inside to the warmth of his house, closing his door behind him to block out the cold arctic air.

Ranboo changed out of his old clothes into softer ones that were much more fit for traveling. He grabbed a new pair of gloves to cover his hand, but paused briefly, running his fingers over the deep scars on his hands from the water incident. 

He was barely able to write anymore, which meant he had to rely on his memory more. Philza, Technoblade, and Wilbur helped him as much as they could, but Ranboo still forgot things constantly.

Ranboo sighs and pulls on the gloves, covering the scars from Niki’s view once she arrives.

“Eyup!” A deep voice barks from behind Ranboo, causing him to jump.

“Wilbur!” Ranboo shrieks, “You scared me!”

Wilbur chuckles, “Sorry, sorry. You’re starting to sound like Tommy.”

“Oh, um, okay? Anyways, could you help me get ready for this mansion mission?”

“Sure, why not?”

* * *

“Niki!” Ranboo called out, running up to his sister.

“Ranboo!” Niki shouted back, arms open wide.

Niki wraps her arms around Ranboo’s torso, hugging him tightly.

“How’ve you been?” Ranboo asked, breaking away from the hug.

“Good, good,” Niki smiles, spotting Techno and Phil coming up behind Ranboo, “Hello Phil, Techno!”

“Hey mate!” Phil says and Techno waves, “How’re you?”

“I’m good! Thank you so much for inviting me, I’ve been wanting to get a totem of undying for a while, but haven’t been able to snag a map,” Niki giggles.

“Oh, it was no problem,” Phil chuckles, heading for the portal, “Let's get a move on.”

* * *

Techno walked through the stifling heat of the Nether roof away from the others, mind racing.

_ Who had Ranboo been talking to? _

He was definitely speaking to someone, it wasn’t one of his one-sided conversations. Ranboo had made a few comments about hearing voices, but he associated them with bad things, and he sounded like he was having fun with this voice.

“Techno?” Niki's soft voice cuts through his thoughts as she begins to walk next to him, “I’ve got a question.”

“Yeah?” Techno grunts in response.

“Why’d you kill Ranboo?”

Techno stopped abruptly at these words, causing Niki to double back.

“Oh, I’m sorry if that was searching boundaries! I-I was just curious,” Niki stuttered out.

Techno sighed and continued to walk, “It’s fine, it’s natural to be curious.”

“So?”

Techno watched Ranboo for a minute, watching the boy chat happily with Philza, seemingly making fun of him. Niki follows his gaze and smiles at the strange antics of her little brother.

“Y’know that ‘Blood for the Blood God’ thing?” Technoblade mutters, and Niki nods quickly, turning her focus to Technoblade, “Blood God wanted more blood, and I lashed out on Phil. Ranboo ran in and stopped me from killin’ Phil.”

Niki gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth, “Oh, I-I’m so sorry I asked.”

**TW: Mention of attempted suicide**

Techno shook his head, “It’s fine. I just can’t really control myself. I felt terrible after… I tried to kill myself.”

The two walked in silence, before Niki admitted something, “I know what it feels like.”

“What?”

“A-after Wilbur died, I couldn’t help but feel like it was my fault. Like I could have stopped him, saved him, and stopped him from blowing up L’Manburg. Puffy got to me in time to stop me, but… I got really close. I almost did it when I saw Ranboo’s message as well if Puffy hadn’t stayed by my side the whole time,” Niki began fidgeting with her sleeves.

**End**

“Oh…”

The two continued to walk in silence, until Niki decided to run up and catch up to Ranboo and Phil, quickly changing her demeanor.

And, despite neither of them realizing it, a strange bond had formed. Not one where either of them considered themselves as friends, but neither of them considered each other strangers.

Perhaps… allies would be a good word.

Yes, allies, bonded over the shared goal of protecting Ranboo.

That was a good word to describe it.

* * *

“We’re lucky that this place isn’t raided, it’s so close to spawn and other mansions, we must have passed it on another mission,” Phil said as they arrived at the doorstep of the mansion,  “We should split up to cover more places. 3 levels, so one of us per each and two of them are the same. I’ll go by myself.”

“I can go by myself,” Ranboo offered.

Everyone looked over at him, before Phil spoke up, “I’d feel more comfortable with you going with someone.”

“What, you don’t think I can handle myself?” Ranboo jokes, “But fine, I’ll go with Niki.”

“M’kay, so Techno, you cover the second floor, I’ll get the third and you two get the first,” Phil supplies, stretching his arms for an expectant battle.

Everyone nods and splits up, Phil and Techno heading up the stairs while Ranboo, Wilbur (Unknown to Niki), and Niki wander the bottom halls, killing the stray illager or zombie until they come across a split.

“Hm…” Niki ponders, “How ‘bout we split up? I don’t think these halls are  _ too  _ long. We’ll just yell if we need the other help, ok?”

“Alright!” Ranboo says as he begins to head down the left hallway, waving goodbye.

“I’m glad that Niki’s doing well,” Wilbur says, floating next to Ranboo.

“Mhm, so am I,” Ranboo says, checking behind a painting for hidden doors, “I wonder what she and Techno were talking about. Probably about you or something, I know they both cared about you a lot.”

Wilbur chuckles, “Thanks, but  _ I  _ think they were talking about you, as they both care about  _ you _ .”

Ranboo rolled his eyes, “They don’t care that much. They care for you more.”

“Sure~” Wilbur teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Ranboo said, “Stop teasing me you blue obsessed maniac.”

Wilbur gasped, making a fake sound of annoyance and hurt, “Ranboo, how  _ dare  _ you! I’m going to Niki, she won’t belittle me like that!”

“She can’t see you, Wilbur,” Ranboo said, but Wilbur had already left.

Ranboo sighed, pushing back a painting to find an oak door awaiting his arrival.

“Bingo,” He mutters to himself, turning the handle, pushing open the door.

Inside there's a small obsidian structure. They usually contain diamonds, so Ranboo draws his pickaxe and mines through the obsidian to reach the block.

He was mining through the block until he heard the grunt of an illager behind him. He turns, drawing his sword only to be met with an arrow to the shoulder, making him fall down onto the ground.

Looking up, he spots the illager… pushing obsidian back in, blocking his exit?

The illager places the last block and Ranboo gets up, brushing himself off in the darkness, before turning back around to mine all the way through the diamond.

**_Hello again._ **

Ranboo paused, turning around, to see no one.

“Where are you?” Ranboo calls out, “I’m not scared of you anymore.”

**_I’m everywhere and nowhere Ranboo._ **

“Thank you  _ so  _ much for that total clear answer.”

**_I’m you Ranboo, I’m your conscious._ **

“You’ve said that before, and you’re lying.”

**_Oh, am I?_ **

“Yes, yes you are.” 

_ Was he? _

**_I’m not lying Ranboo, you know that. You just need to remember._ **

“How could remembering help me?”

**_It could help you get back on your parents._ **

_ That’s new… _

_ How did he know about them? _

**_That’s right Ranboo, I know about your parents._ **

“Then why bring them around now?”

**_Because you only just remembered, and I’m you. I may remember things that you don’t, but your past is a mystery to me as much as it is to you._ **

…

**_That’s right, you have nothing to say because you know it's true._ **

“No, it’s not! Just get out of my head Dream!”

**_I’m afraid I can’t. I’m you._ **

_ How could he get rid of it? _

Ranboo turned around, spotting a piece of obsidian on the ground. It was small, only the size of his fist. Ranboo scooped it up.

**_You can’t fight me Ranboo. I’m your mind, the only way to get rid of me is to-_ **

**TW: Self-harm, blood, vomit, loss of teeth**

Ranboo took a deep breath and hit himself hard on the head with the rock, making his head hurt, breath heavily from both the lack of oxygen and the wound he inflicted on himself.

**_W-what are you doing?_ **

“Get rid of you,” Ranboo growled, raising up the rock once more, hitting it against his jaw this time by accident, making him spit blood and a tooth.

**_No, stop, you can’t get rid of me like tha-_ **

He hit again and felt a trickle of warm blood begin to run down the side of his head.

**_Stop!_ **

He hit again, making him spit out blood again.

The voice didn’t speak again.

He hit once more for good measure.

Ranboo sighed and dropped the rock into the small pool of blood that stood at his feet. He turned and picked up the diamond, placing it into his pack, then used his remaining strength to mine through the obsidian.

He emerged and spotted the illager, whom he killed with a simple stab through the heart.

Ranboo leaned up against the wall, taking in large deep breaths, until doubling over and vomiting out a mixture of blood, food, and a single tooth.

**End**

Ranboo giggled with giddiness, proud of himself for figuring out how to get rid of the voice.

He searched his bag, only to find he had no healing potions on him, meaning he’d have to ask Niki for one.

He sighed and began to search through the chests, managing to find one totem and a few other goodies as his shoulder began to cramp up with the arrow stuck in it.

Ranboo staggered back out of the room and down the hall, searching behind any paintings and checking any chests as tiredness and pain tugged at his senses.

In the end, he managed to find another totem in a secret chest, a few emeralds, diamonds, and gold.

He searched one final chest and managed to find a healing potion, which he chugged down after pulling out the arrow.

It didn’t fix all of the injuries, his teeth were still missing and there was still some minor bruising now, but it healed up enough to not be super noticeable, and Niki wouldn’t worry.

In the end, the group came out with a total of eight totems, and no knowledge of Ranboo’s voice encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!  
> Moral of the story, Ranboo can hit himself really hard.  
> I've also been planning on making a MCYT half chatfic, half normal fic after this, but I want to know if you guys would be interested in it, so I'll leave a description of it in the comments and I'd appreciate it if you could tell me if it sounds interesting! c:  
> Anyways, have an amazing day/night!


	9. Therapy arc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> This chapter is literally just healing for Ranboo. I'm giving you guys a break from the angst.  
> There are scars and injuries mentioned in this chapter!  
> There is also hugging, blushing (From embrassesment), and sentences like 'crying into her chest'. Please note that that is ENTIRELY PLATONIC!  
> Also, you can thank SaberTitch for this chapter, they gave me the base idea! :D

“Ranboo?” Wilbur asked, his voice sounding very cautious.

“Yeah?” Ranboo responds, too busy practicing his handwriting to hear the caution in Wilbur’s voice.

“What’s up with your head? It’s super bruised and stuff,” Wilbur asked, his voice soft.

Ranboo stopped right in the middle of a word and turned to face Wilbur, “W-what?”

“Your head,” Wilbur said, pointing at the side of his head, “It’s super bruised and it’s got a scar.”

“Oh, um, I don’t really know, probably someone or something from my past,” Ranboo says, trying to sound calm.

Wilbur stared at him for a few seconds, before sighing, “Ranboo, I’m not stupid. You didn’t have these injuries before you went to the mansion, and there’s  _ no  _ way an illager or any other mob could do that. That’s some pretty serious blunt force trauma, you should ask Phil or Techno to look at it.”

Ranboo shakes his head, “No, I’m fine. I don’t want to bother. I just fell on a corner.”

“If you don’t go, I’m going to start destroying things in your house so they come over and check on you.”

Ranboo rolled his eyes, but still got up and headed towards the door, only stumbling slightly, “Alright, but I’m going to Niki’s, I don’t want Techno and Phil to worry, they’ve done so much for me already.”

Wilbur opened his mouth to argue but realized that the hybrid had made up his mind, so simply shrugged and floated alongside him. Ranboo yelled to Phil where he was going, before heading into the Nether, walking through the stifling heat.

* * *

“Niki?” Ranboo yelled, knocking on her flower shop door, “Are you in here?”

“Ranboo?” A familiar voice asks, making him jump and turn to see a frizzy white-haired woman in a captain uniform approaching.

“O-oh, I’m sorry ma’am, I was just looking for my sister, Niki, have you seen her anywhere?” Ranboo stutters out, looking down at the woman.

“Right, you don’t remember anyone,” The woman mutters to herself, “I’m Captain Puffy, but you can just call me Puffy. Niki’s out working on something, but how can I help you?”

Ranboo thought for a second, “Puffy? Aren’t you someone really special to Niki? I’m sorry, I can’t really remember things.”

“Oh, it’s alright! I’m Niki’s fiance,” Puffy smiles, “Anyways, what do you need help with?”

“Oh, um, I was just wondering if you could help me with this?” Ranboo asked, lifting up his hair to reveal the bruising and scar.

Puffy let out a small gasp before reaching forward to touch the wound, causing Ranboo to flinch back, “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have asked!” She apologizes.

“It’s alright,” Ranboo lets out a weak chuckle, “Go ahead and touch it.”

Puffy shows off a small smile, before lightly touching the wound, inspecting it.

Puffy grimes, “Geez, this looks really bad. Do you want to head back to my office so I can totally patch you up?”

Ranboo gives a hesitant nod and follows Puffy back to her office, where she begins to pull out medical supplies as Ranboo stood, rocking on the balls of his feet.

“Sit down,” Puffy points towards a vacant chair in front of her desk. Ranboo did as he was told, eyes wandering. He spots motivational posters, pens and paper, and small little fidget toys.

Puffy notices Ranboo staring at the toys with interest as she takes out the medical supplies, and chuckles, before picking up a small squishable one shaped like a polar bear that Ranboo had staring at and tossed it to him. Ranboo fumbled with it slightly before properly catching it.

Puffy smiled as she pulled up a chair next to Ranboo’s and began inspecting it, “You can fidget with that ‘till I’m done.”

“R-really?” Ranboo asked, blushing slightly.

“Of course!” Puffy exclaimed, “They're there for comfort!”

Ranboo smiled slightly as he began to fidget with the toy and Puffy began to treat the wound. The two sat in a comfortable silence until Puffy asked the question that he had been dreading.

“So, how did this happen?”

Ranboo gulped, “Um, I fell at the on t-the obsidian at the… end portal, yeah.”

Puffy looked at him with disbelief, “Ranboo, that was a terrible lie, no offense.”

“Y-yeah, I know,” Ranboo chuckled.

“This looks intentional,” Puffy said with concern in her voice, “You've been hit really hard. Did someone attack you?”

“N-not exactly, no.”

“A mob?”

“N-no…”

Puffy stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out what could have done it before she realized the horrid truth.

“R-Ranboo, don’t tell me you did this to yourself,” Puffy asked, dreading the worst.

Ranboo turned his head away from her, giving her an answer without saying anything.

Puffy wouldn’t take an answer without confirmation.

“Ranboo, look at me,” She said with the gentlest tone in her voice. Ranboo turned his head to face her and saw an extremely worried look on her face, “Did you do this to yourself?”

“I-I’m sorry,” Ranboo whispered, feeling his eyes well up with tears.

Puffy’s eyes widened, then she blinked and looked at Ranboo with sympathy in her eyes. She leaned up and wrapped her arms around the boy's torso, having him place his face in the crook on his neck, the soft fabric of her coat, and the slightly itchy feeling of her frizzy hair pressing up against his smooth skin that was littered with scars from tears.

“Ranboo, no matter what you do, this won’t be the solution to anything, no matter how dire the situation is, it won’t fix anything,” Puffy whispered into Ranboo’s ears.

“B-but it’s the only way to get rid of him,” Ranboo stuttered into Puffy’s jacket.

“Who?” Puffy asked, drawing away from the hug, but keeping her hands gently wrapped around his biceps.

Ranboo gulped, “D-Dream.”

Puffy blinked in surprise, “Dream?”

Ranboo nodded, “I hear him a lot, but he leaves when I do that.”

“Oh, duckling,” Puffy whispers, wrapping him back in her arms, “I’m so sorry.”

Tears begin to fall from Ranboo’s eyes, the water getting caught in the fabric of Puffy’s jacket. Ranboo fell into the warmth of Puffy’s embrace, beginning to sob as he fell limp in her arms, a hand gripped onto her shoulders, leaning falling into her body so that he was no longer on his chair, but instead on his knees, his torso being tall enough for his to still be in the embrace, crying into her chest.

Puffy held him still, keeping him steady as he sobbed, not telling him to stop or to back away, unlike most of the others on the server, who would awkwardly hold him until they found a chance to escape. She instead stayed there, on the verge of tears herself, holding him as a mother would hold her own sobbing son.

She’d had practice.

And they stayed until Ranboo tears had dried.

Ranboo apologized. 

Puffy declined the apology, saying it didn’t bother her. 

Puffy invited him back to her house for dinner.

Ranboo accepted, telling Phil over his communicator. 

The two head back to Puffy’s home.

Puffy made beef stew. 

The two spoke over their meal of their own troubles. 

They both listened to each other.

They both shed tears. 

They both told tales of pain. 

They both shared stories of Dream. 

They both shared stories about their brothers, whether they were found or biological.

The night ended with Niki arriving home after working on her not-so-secret city tired, finding a bowl of beef stew awaiting her on the stove, ready to be warmed, and her fiance sitting asleep on the couch, hand in between locks of her brother's hair, who was laying on her lap, also asleep. 

Niki smiled and wrapped a blanket around both of them, deciding to ignore the bandages over Ranboo’s head for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!  
> This chapter was really fun to write!  
> Also, anyone whos wondering, the half chatfic, half normal fic that I spoke about in the notes the last chapter will be published on the same day the last chapter of this story is published (Some things like age or living situations will most likely be changed, but the bakery part is staying)!  
> Have an amazing day/night, and thank you again to SaberTitch for giving me this idea and a good laugh in the comments last chapter! :D

**Author's Note:**

> c:


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